Everything You Need To Know About Sonya Deville and Her WWE Career

WWE is the biggest sports entertainment industry in the world and through the years, the company has managed to give us some impressive, dominant wrestlers to love and cheer for. So when WWE signed Sonya Deville a couple of years back they were living up to their own self-created reputation of fielding world-class talent on the big stage. Now we’ll discuss all there is to know about the WWE Superstar, Sonya Deville.

Sonya Deville’s Bio

Sonya Deville was born on the 24th of September, 1993 in Shamong Township, New Jersey. Her parents are of Italian ancestry. At birth, her names were Daria Berenato. Because of her fighting style, Sonya was nicknamed the Jersey Devil.

During her school days, she attended Seneca High School in Tabernacle, New Jersey. She has two siblings. Not long after she was done with high school, she moved on to the MMA and began training there from about the age of 17.

MMA Career

Sonya’s first MMA match was in March 2015, making her debut in a match where she faced off against Jasmine Pouncy at the University of MMA losing by way of a unanimous decision. She had a couple other matches with the MMA before deciding that she would love to be in sports entertainment. Her record in the MMA is; 3 matches, 2 wins and 1 loss.

She lost to Jasmine Pouncy while she beat the duo of Jeselia Perez and Allenita Perez, which made up her two wins while at the MMA. To be precise, one of her wins was by knockout while the other was by submission.

Sonya Deville’s Sexual Orientation

For many years, top-level wrestling was a male-dominated spectator sport, and it still remains so to a large extent. In time, more female fighters have come to the fore and the competition has gone up a notch. Even with the advent of female wrestling, the issue of the sexual orientation of the fighters was never really discussed until Sonya Deville came out as the first openly gay woman in the wrestling world.

In an appearance on WWE Tough Enough, the company talent search show, she was asked if she was in a relationship by the judges and Deville replied, “I don’t have a wife yet, but I have a girlfriend.”

There were rumors that she was dating fellow wrestler, Mandy Rose as the wrestling pair live in the same apartment, and are apparently best of friends. There lots of pictures of them together on social media hanging out together but there is no concrete proof that Mandy on her part has any sexual interest in women.

Sonya has however dated Christina Heath, the WBFF Bikini Diva Pro. They began seeing each other in 2015, but they broke up later in the year. Presently, she is with Zahra Schreiber. In 2016, the pair began to hang out together. They publicly revealed their relationship in 2018.

WWE Career

Sonya’s WWE journey began when she was one of the thirteen finalists in the sixth season of WWE Tough Enough in June 2015. On a personal level, the competition didn’t go exactly as she expected, a self-confessed sore loser, she was the third to be ousted. That notwithstanding, her performances left an impression and she earned a contract with the WWE, aligning her with their development brand, NXT in October 2015.

Her in-ring debut was against Nia Jax on December 20, a wrestling bout that she lost on December 20. She went to a series of ups and downs during her time at NXT. Fighting in title bouts and running on winning streaks in that time.

On November 20, 2017, she made her RAW debut alongside Mandy Rose and Paige. On that episode, they lay waste to the women’s division and by the next week, they were revealed as the team known as Absolution. Her first televised match was on December 19 at Tribute to the Troops where the Absolution defeated Bayley, Mickie James and Sasha Banks. She participated in the Royal Rumble, entering at Number 10. Sonya was also a competitor at the first women’s Elimination Chamber match.

When Paige in April 2018 was forced to retire due to medical issues related to her neck injuries and surgeries, she became SmackDown general manager. In the 2018 Superstar Shake-up, Rose and Deville were drafted from Raw to SmackDown.

Sonya Deville has co-hosted the YouTube show AfterBuzz. She made her film debut in the movie, The Honour. Her first TV show appearance in Tattoo Nightmares.

Sonya Deville’s favorite signature fighting moves include the Anklelock, Double leg takedown, Kimura lock, Body scissors, Kneebar and the Spinebuster. She is also known to use the Step-up Enzuigiri and Triangle armbar.

Height and Body Measurements

For a lady who has been involved in active physical combat since the age of 16, it should come as no surprise that her physique is quite toughened up. She stands at a height of 5’ 7” and weighs 130 pounds.